ainpnm. 


WAMPUM, 


A    PAPER  PRESENTED    TO 


THE  NUMISMATIC  AND  ANTIQUARIAN  SOCIETY 


OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


BY 


ASHBEL  WOODWARD,  M.D., 

OF   FRANKLIN,   CONN., 

CORRESPONDING  MEMBER. 


ALBANY,  N.   Y.  : 
J.   MUNSELL,  PRINTER. 

1878. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1878, 

'.  /&y:A£k#EL  WOODWARD, 

m  t*he"  Library  of  Congress. 


At  a  Stated  Meeting  of  the  Numismatic  and  Antiquarian 
Society  of  Philadelphia,  held  January  2,  1868,  the  following 
resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Society  are  due  and  are 
hereby  tendered  to  Ashbel  Woodward,  M.D.,  of  Franklin, 
Conn.,  for  his  very  able  and  interesting  research  upon  "  Wam 
pum  "  this  evening  read  before  the  Society. 

Resolved,  That  said  paper  be  referred  to  the  Publication  Com 
mittee. 

Attest, 

HENRY  PHILLIPS,  JR., 
Corresponding  Secretary. 


989592 


NOTE. 

The  following  pages  constitute  an  Essay  read 
before  the  Numismatic  and  Antiquarian  Society 
of  Philadelphia  in  January  1868.  It  was  in 
tended  for  publication  in  the  second  volume  of 
the  Transactions  of  the  Society,  but  as  the  ap 
pearance  of  this  volume  has  been  unexpectedly 
delayed,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  allow  the 
Essay  to  appear  separately. 

Franklin,  Conn.,  January,  1878. 


WAMPUM.  :•••£?;»•; 

When  Columbus,  on  his  second  voyage  to  the 
New  World,  landed  upon  Cape  Cabron,  Cuba, 
the  cacique  of  the  adjacent  country  meeting  him 
upon  the  shore  offered  him  a  string  of  beads  made 
of  the  hard  parts  of  shells  as  an  assurance  of  wel 
come.  Similar  gifts  were  often  made  to  the 
great  discoverer,  whenever  the  natives  sought  to 
win  his  favor  or  wished  to  assure  him  of  their 
own  good  will.  These  shell  beads  were  after 
wards  found  to  be  in  general  use  among  the 
tribes  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  At  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century  the  English  colonists  found 
them  in  Virginia,  as  did  the  Dutch  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  following  century  in  New 
York,  the  English  in  New  England  and  the 


8 

French  in  Canada.  The  pre-historic  inhabitants 
oF  :"tke:.  Mississippi  valley  were  also  evidently 
'^ciq^a.^red.with  their  manufacture,  as  remains  of 
shell  beads  have  been  found  in  many  of  the 
mounds  which  survive  as  the  only  memorials  of 
that  mysterious  people. 

These  Indian  beads  were  known  under  a 
variety  of  names  among  the  early  colonists,  and 
were  called,  wampum,  wampom-peage,  or  wampeage, 
frequently  peage  or  peake  only,  and  in  some  locali 
ties  sewan  or  zewand.  But  generally  sewan  pre- 
vailed  among  the  Dutch,  and  wampum  among 
the  English.  These  names  were  applied  without 
distinction  to  all  varieties  of  beads.  This  confu 
sion  arose  naturally  enough  from  the  scanty 
acquaintance  of  the  whites  with  the  Indian  lan 
guage.  The  word  wampum  [wompam],1  which 

1  Trumbull   in   his  notes  in  the   Narragansett    Club    Reprint 
of  Roger  Williams's  Key,  says  :  "  Worn  pam  was  the  name  of 


9 

has  since  become  a  general  term,  was  restricted 
by  the  Indians  to  the  white  beads.  It  was  derived 
from  wompi,  "  white."  The  other  or  dark  beads 
were  called  suckduhock,  a  name  compounded  of 
sucki,  "dark  colored,"  and  hock,  "shell."  The 
name  Mow  hakes,  compounded  of  mowi,  "  black," 
and  hock,  ''shell,"  was  also  sometimes  applied  to 
'  the  dark  beads.  It  thus  appears  that  the  Indians 
divided  their  beads  into  two  general  classes,  the 
wompam,  or  white  beads,  and  sue kdu bock,  or  dark 
beads.  Both  white  and  black  consisted  of  highly 
polished,  testaceous  cylinders,  about  one-eighth  of 
an  inch  in  diameter  and  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long, 

the  white  beads  collectively  ;  when  strung  or  wrought  in  girdles 
they  constituted  '  wanom-peg  [Roger  Williams],  the  wampon- 
peage  of  Wood  and  other  early  writers." 

Peage  or  peake  signified  simply  "strung  beads,"  and  wampom- 
peage  accordingly  signified  "  strings  of  white  beads." 

The  English  were  doubtless  led  to  consider  wampum  a 
generic  word,  because  they  heard  it  oftenest  used,  wampum 


10 

drilled  length- wise  and  strung  upon  fibres  of  hemp 
or  the  tendons  of  wild  beasts.  Suckauhock  was 
made  from  the  stem  of  the  venus  mercenana, 
or  common  round  clam,  popularly  known  as  the 
quauhaug  ;  wampum  from  the  column  and  inner 
whorls  of  the  Pyrula  carica  and  Pyrula  canicalata  * 
[Lam.],  species  known  as  Winkles  or  Peri  winkles 
among  fishermen,  and  the  largest  convoluted  shells 

being  much  more  abundant  than  suckauhock.  Their  error  has 
however  long  since  received  the  sanction  of  usage.  But  as  far 
as  our  own  knowledge  extends  there  was  no  comprehensi/e 
word  for  all  shell  beads  in  use  among  the  Indians.  Sewan  hid 
perhaps  very  nearly  such  a  use  in  certain  localities,  but  the  real 
meaning  of  the  word  sewan  appears  from  the  following  note  in 
the  Narragansett  Club  Reprint  of  Roger  Williams's  Key  :  — 
"  Seahwhbog^  '  they  are  scattered  '  [Elliot].  From  this  word 
the  Dutch  traders  gave  the  name  of  sewared  or  zeewand  [the 
participle,  seahwhoun^  'scattered,'  '  loose  '],  to  all  shell  money 
just  as  the  English  called  all  peage^or  string  beads,  by  the  name 
of  the  white  or  wampom." 

1  Sometimes   from    the   Bucdnum   undulatum    [Moll],   foul  d 
from  Nantucket  to  Labrador,  and  occasionally  perhaps  from  the 


II 

of  our  New  England  coast.1  These  shells  were 
found  in  great  abundance  along  the  sea  shore, 
lying  either  upon  the  mud,  or  just  beneath  the 
surface,  and  were  wrought  in  the  following 
manner.  The  desirable  portions  of  the  shells 
were  first  broken  out  into  small  pieces  of  the  form 
of  a  parallelepiped  ;  these  were  then  drilled  and 
afterwards  ground  and  polished.  Possessing  no 

Natlca  heros  [Say]  found  from  New  York  to  Labrador,  and  the 
Natlca  duplicata  found  from  Florida  to  Massachusetts  bay. 

In  this  connection  the  writer  would  acknowledge  his  indebted 
ness  to  Hon.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  a  gentleman  who  has 
given  much  time  and  talent  to  the  investigation  of  matters  of 
Indian  history. 

1  Many  writers  have  asserted  that  wampum  was  worked  out 
of  the  inside  of  the  Great  Congue  shell.  This  view  is  evidently 
erroneous,  as  the  Great  Congue,  Strombus  gigas  [Linn.],  is  not 
found  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  north  of  Florida  and  the  West 
Indies,  except  in  the  fossil  state. 

The  assertion  that  wampum  is  an  Iroquois  word,  meaning  a 
"  muscle,"  is  doubtless  equally  unfounded. 


12 

better  tools,  the  Indians  made  shift  to  bore  them 
with  stone  drills,1  implements  which  hardly  cor 
respond  with  the  delicacy  and  exactness  exhibited 
by  the  specimens  of  original  wampum  that  have 
come  down  to  us.  The  process  of  polishing  and 
shaping  was  equally  painful  and  laborious,  for 
rubbing  with  the  hand  over  a  smooth  stony 
surface,  was  the  only  method  which  the  rudeness 
of  the  Aborigines  could  devise.  Yet  the  finished 
beads,  whether  attached  in  thick  masses  to  gar 
ments,  or  strung  in  long  flexible  rows,  were  very 
comely  and  without  a  trace  of  the  tawdriness, 
which  is  so  characteristic  of  uncivilized  peoples. 
The  suckauhock  with  its  varying  shades  of  purple 


Roger  Williams  [Key-t  chap,  xxiv],  who  certainly  had 
fine  opportunities  for  observation,  and  our  other  most  trust 
worthy  authorities,  state  that  the  Suckauhock  was  made  from  the 
clam  shell,  and  the  wampum  from  the  shells  of  the  Periwinkle, 
and  such  was  unquestionably  the  case. 

1  Roger  Williams's  Key^  chap.  xxiv. 


13 

was  particularly  beautiful.      Its  value  was  double 
that   of  the  white   and  the  darker  its   color,  the 
more   highly   it  was  prized.      But  the  laborious^  ^ 
method  of  production  imparted   no  trivial  value  J 
to  both  varieties. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  that  the  Indian 
could  produce  so  clever  an  article  with  his  rude 
implements.  Some  have  conjectured  that  the 
specimens  produced  before  the  natives  obtained 
awl  blades  from  the  colonists  were  very  inferior 
to  their  later  productions.  One  writer l  even 
goes  so  far  as  to  suggest,  that,  before  the  advent 
of  Europeans,  Indian  beads  consisted  mostly  of 
small  pieces  of  wood,  stained  white  or  black.  The 
fact  is,  however,  that  the  manufacture  of  wam 
pum  dates  back  at  least  to  the  time  of  the  mound 
builders,  for  quantities  of  beads  similar  in  form 
to  the  more  modern  article,  and  proved  by 

1  Gordon,  Hist,  of  Penn.,  Appendix  F. 


chemical  tests  and  structural  peculiarities  to  be 
similar  in  material,  have  been  exhumed  from  the 
ancient  mounds  of  the  west.1 

Other  species  besides  the  wampum  and  suckau- 
hock  crept  into  local  use  among  the  different 
tribes.  The  Iroquois  in  their  civil  and  religious 
ceremonies  employed  a  variety  named  otekda,  and 
made  from  spiral  fresh  water  shells  of  the  genus 

unio.  This  as  may  be  inferred  from  its  uses  was 
held  in  the  highest  esteem,  and  no  other  could  be 
employed  in  the  different  stages  of  the  ceremo 
nial.2  In  New  England  and  perhaps  elsewhere, 
an  inferior  kind  made  evidently  from  shells  too 
small  and  thin  to  be  wrought  into  the  cylindrical 
beads,  circulated  to  a  limited  extent.  The  sepa 
rate  pieces  were  round  and  flat,  about  an  eighth 

'See  Schoolcraft's  report  on  the  Grove  Creek  Mound  ir  vol. 
I,  of  Transactions  of  the  Am.  Ethnological  Soc. 
2  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  120. 


15 

of  an  inch  broad  and  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch 
thick,  white  and  black  were  strung  alternately, 
but  the  strings,  though  arranged  with  considera 
ble  nicety,  lacked  wholly  the  finish  and  flexibility 
of  the  regular  article.  In  Virginia  roenoke  was 
current.  This  consisted  of  small  rough  frag 
ments  of  cockle  shells,  which  were  drilled  and 
strung.  The  last  two  varieties  were  only  used  to 
a  limited  extent,  even  in  the  region  of  their 
manufacture.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  cylindrical 
wampum  was  the  standard,  and  the  dearest  to  the 
Indian  of  all  his  treasures.  Indeed  such  was  the 
value  set  upon  it,  that  attempts  were  often  made 
to  counterfeit  it,  an  unallowed  shell  being  fraudu 
lently  used  in  the  manufacture  of  the  white, 
while  the  black  was  imitated  from  a  kind  of 
stone.  Yet  the  habitual  caution  and  keenness  of 
the  Indian  made  it  difficult  to  palm  off*  the  spuri 
ous  article  upon  him. 


i6 

As  wampum  was  made  from  marine  shells,1  it 
was  naturally  manufactured  by  the  sea  shore 
tribes,  and  in  localities  determined  by  the  abund 
ance  of  raw  material.  Here  the  shells  were 
stored  up  in  some  convenient  spot  during  sum 
mer,  to  be  worked  out  in  winter  when  the  rigors 
of  the  season  should  deter  the  men  from  their 
ordinary  out  door  pursuits.2  Probably  but  little 
was  produced  north  of  the  Narragansetts  [Rhode 
Island],  as  the  necessary  shells  were  scarce  beyond 
Cape  Cod.  The  Narragansetts  were  themselves 
great  producers,  and  tradition  claimed  for  their 
tribe  the  honor  of  the  invention  of  wampum. 
But  the  Long  Island  Indians  were  by  far  the 
greatest  producers  along  our  northern  coast.  Their 
sandy  flats  and  marshes  teemed  with  sea  life,  and, 
when  the  Dutch  first  came  to  New  Amsterdam, 

1  The  otekoa  of  the  Iroquois  was  the  only  exception  of  which 
we  know. 

2  Roger  Williams's  Key,  chap.  xxiv. 


their  island  went  by  the  name  of  sewan  backy,  or 
the  ''land  of  the  sewan  shell,"  so  numerous  were 
the  sewan  manufactories  upon  it.  Without  doubt 
production  was  stimulated  beyond  its  natural  limits 
by  the  demand  from  powerful  tribes  from  the 
main  land,  who  found  it  easier  to  exact  wampum 
as  tribute  from  their  weak  neighbors,  than  per 
sonally  to  engage  in  its  laborious  coinage.  Hazard, 
in  his  collection  of  state  papers,  states,  that  the 
Narragansetts  frequently  compelled  large  tributes 
in  wampum  from  the  Long  Island  Indians.  The 
Pequots  also  for  many  years  prior  to  1637,  ex 
acted  large  annual  contributions  from  the  same 
tribes  while  they  were  still  further  subject  to  the 
levies  of  the  imperious  Mohawks.  Thus  the 
mint  of  wealth  at  their  very  doors  became  to  its 
possessors  the  source  of  untold  misery.  Constant 
fear  kept  them  toiling  at  the  mines,  while  the 
scanty  proceeds  of  their  labor  only  quickened  the 


i8 

greed  of  their  savage  masters.  The  number  and 
extent  of  the  sewan  manufactories  upon  Long 
Island  may  be  inferred  from  the  frequent  and 
immense  shell  heaps  left  by  the  Indians  in  all  of 
which  scarcely  a  whole  shell  is  to  be  found. 
Occasionally  the  whole  shells  were  carried  over 
to  the  main  land  and  there  wrought.  F  *om 
Sewan-Hacky  down  the  Atlantic  coast  and  along 
the  gulf,  the  shaded  covers  and  quiet  banks  v/ere 
doubtless  dotted  with  wampum  manufactories, 
for  there  was  a  great  demand  constantly  to  be 
met. 

The  inland  tribes  were  of  course  unable  to  pro 
duce  their  own  wampum,  and  depended  for  their 
supply  upon  the  coast  tribes.  A  brisk  trade  thus 
arose  between  the  coast  and  interior.  Hides  and 
furs  were  brought  down  to  clothe  the  denser 
population  of  the  shore,  and  wampum  carried 


back  in  exchange .l  Often,  however,  the  inland 
tribes  were  able  to  pounce  down  and  wring  this 
precious  material  from  its  carriers  in  the  form  of 
tribute. 

Wampum  is  often  spoken  of  as  "  Indian  money." 
This  expression  if  referring  to  colonial  times  is 
perfectly  proper,  but  must  be  received  with  cau 
tion  in  the  consideration  of  ante-colonial  days. 
The  barbarian,  dwelling  in  independent  isolation, 
satisfies  the  majority  of  his  wants  by  direct  effort 
and  not  by  an  interchange  of  services,  nor  till 
civilization  has  considerably  advanced  can  we  look 
for  any  general  system  of  exchanges  with  the 
mutual  dependence  and  mutual  benefits  which 
such  a  system  involves.  So  attractive  an  article 
as  wampum  was  doubtless  eagerly  sought  in 
barter,  and  would  readily  procure  for  its  possessor 
whatever  else  he  might  desire.  Indeed  we  know 

1  Roger  Williams's  Key,  chap.  xxiv. 


20 

that  it  was  the  means  of  an  extensive  trade  be 
tween  the  coast  and  the  interior,  the  inland 
Indians  bringing  down  hides  and  furs  to  be  ex 
changed  for  the  wampum  of  the  shore.  All  this, 
however,  was  in  the  way  of  barter,  and  we  cannot 
hence  infer  that  the  idea  of  a  medium  or  money 
crept  into  the  limited  circle  of  the  redman's  Wc.nts 
and  satisfactions.  His  circumstances  did  not  de 
mand  and  would  not  therefore  suggest  it.  Wam 
pum  was  the  gold  of  the  aborigine.  But  he 
had  yet  to  learn  that  the  value  of  gold  resides  not 
alone  in  its  glitter.  The  ancient  Peruvians  dwelt 
amid  mountains  of  gold,  but  the  idea  of  a  circu 
lating  medium  never  dawned  upon  them.  In 
like  manner,  the  Indian  had  never  learned  that 
use  of  his  golden  wampum  which  was  the  iirst 
to  suggest  itself  to  the  white  man.  He  made 
and  valued  it  for  other  purposes. 

A  fondness  for  personal  display  and  decoration 
\*f 


21 

are  characteristic  of  uncivilized  life,  and  wampum 
was  well  adapted  to  satisfy  this  weakness  of  the 
Indian.  It  was  every  where  used  for  adornment 
of  the  person.  The  humblest  proudly  wore  his 
trifle,  while  the  more  favored  ones  were  wont  to 
decorate  themselves  in  countless  gay  and  fantastic 
ways.  It  was  oftenest  worn  about  the  neck  in 
strings  of  the  length  of  a  rosary,  the  number  of 
strings  being  determined  by  the  means  or  social 
position  of  the  wearer.1  Bracelets  and  necklaces 
were  other  forms  in  which  it  was  frequently  dis 
played.  With  the  females,  head-dresses,  con 
sisting  of  bands  of  wampum  twined  about  the 
head  and  gathering  up  their  abundant  tresses, 
were  an  especial  delight.  A  border  of  beads 
greatly  enhanced  the  value  of  any  garment,  and 

1  For  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  different  modes  of 
wearing  wampum,  see  the  plates  in  that  admirable  work, 
Harriot's  Virginia,  written  in  1586,  and  published  in  1590,  in 
the  first  volume  of  De  Bry's  Voyages. 


22 

outer  clothing  was  usually  thus  ornamented. 
Indeed  the  wealthy  and  powerful  wore  cloaks,  as 
also  aprons  and  caps,  thickly  studded  with  wam 
pum  wrought  into  various  fantastic  forms  and 
figures.  Says  that  old  voyager,  John  Josselyn, 
"Prince  Phillip,  a  little  before  I  came  to  Eng 
land  [1671],  coming  to  Boston,  had  on  a  coat 
and  buskins  thick  set  with  these  beads  in  pleasant 
wild  works."  The  moccasin  was  also,  as  at  the 
present  day,  the  recipient  of  much  taste  and  skill. 
More  of  a  luxury  and  confined  mostly  to 
sachems  and  sagamores  was  the  wampum  belt, 
alternate  white  and  purple  strings  attached  in  rows 
to  a  deerskin  base,  and  worn  as  a  belt  about  the 
waist,  or  thrown  over  the  shoulders  like  a  scarf. 
Ordinary  belts  consisted  of  twelve  rows  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  beads  each,  but  they  increased 
in  length  and  breadth  with  the  social  importance 
of  the  wearer.  As  many  as  ten  thousand  beads  are 


23 

known  to  have  been  wrought  into  a  single  war 
belt  four  inches  wide.  The  regular  alternation 
of  white  and  purple  rows  was  not  always  adopted, 
but  birds  and  beasts  and  such  other  rustic  fantasies 
as  suited  the  owner^  taste,  were  often  interwoven 
with  the  different  colors.  One  of  King  Philip's 
belts  surrendered  by  the  Sagamore  Annawon  to 
Capt.  Church,  was  nine  inches  wide,  of  sufficient 
length  when  placed  about  Capt.  Church's 
shoulders  to  reach  to  his  ancles,  and  curiously 
inwrought  with  figures  of  birds,  beasts  and  flowers. 
From  another  belt  of  no  less  exquisite  workman 
ship  and  designed  to  be  worn  about  the  head, 
two  flags  fell  in  graceful  folds  upon  the  shoulders. 
A  third  and  smaller  one  had  a  star  embroidered 
upon  its  end,  and  was  to  be  worn  upon  the  breast. 
The  haughty  old  chief  was  wont  to  adorn  his 
person  with  these  insignia  when  he  sat  in  state 
among  his  subjects.  They  symbolized,  by  striking 


24- 

emblems,  his  might  and  prowess,  and  kindled  in 
beholders  feelings  and  emotions  that  royal  pomp 
and  purple  could  not  awake.  The  idea  of  gaudi- 
ness  is  apt  to  associate  itself  in  our  minds  with 
Indian  trappings,  but  we  must  confess  that  the 
simple  grace  and  force  of  these  rustic  adornments 

would  put  to  shame  many  a  glittering  article  of 
more  modern  wear. 

But  wampum  strings  and  belts  subserved  other 
equally  important  uses.  They  were  among  the 
Indian  race  the  universal  bonds  of  nations  and 
individuals,  the  inviolable  and  sacred  pledges  of 
word  and  deed.  No  promise  was  binding  unless 
confirmed  by  gifts  of  wampum.  The  young 
warrior  declared  his  passion  for  his  Indian  maid, 
by  presenting  wampum  chains  and  belts,  and  her 
acceptance  of  the  proffered  present  sealed  the 
marriage  compact.1  Like  tokens  accompanied 

1  Trumbull's  Hist,  of  Connecticut^  I,  p.  50. 


25 

every  weighty  message,  and  little  reliance  was  put 
upon  the  messenger  who  brought  not  with  him 
such  assurances  of  good  faith.1  They  cemented 
friendships,  confirmed  alliances,  sealed  treaties,  and 
effectually  effaced  the  memory  of  injuries.2  A 
curious  ceremonial  had  grown  up  in  their  pre 
sentation  on  state  occasions.  When  ambassadors 
set  out  for  another  nation,  they  bore  before  them 

the  calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace,  in  evidence  of  their 
pacific  purpose  and  to  secure  protection  for  their 
journey,  and  also  belts  of  wampum  to  be  sub- 

1  "  It   is    obvious   to   all   who  are   the  least  acquainted    with 
Indian  affairs,  that  they  regard  no  message  or  invitation,  be  it  of 
what  consequence  it  will,  unless  attended  or  confirmed  by  strings 
or  belts  of  wampum,  which    they  look  upon  as  we  our    letters 
or   rather  bonds. —  Letter   of  Sir    Wm.    Johnson,    1753.      Doc. 
Hist,  of  N.  T.,  vol.  n,  p.  624. 

2  As  late  as  1720,  a  belt  was  brought  into  Connecticut  from 
some  place  at  the  south  called  Towattowan,  and  circulated  very 
generally  among  the  Indians,  to  the  alarm  of  the  colony,  "  the 


26 

mitted  in   confirmation  of  their  proposals,  or,   if 
their  people  had  been  worsted  in  battle  to   atone 
for  injuries  and   purchase   peace.      In    the   great 
council  assembled  to  receive  them,  the   orator  of 
the  embassy  rose  and  unfolded  the  object  of  their 
visit,  corroborating  each  important  statement  and 
proposal   at   its   close  by  laying  down   wampum 
belts.      If  his  words  were   pleasing,  and   the  pre 
sents  taken  from  the  ground  in  evidence  thereof, 
similar  presents    were  given  in    return,  and   the 

assembly  caused  some  inquiries  to  be  made  into  the  mystery, 
and  an  Indian,  named  Tapanranawko,  testified  that  the  belt 
was  in  token  that  at  each  place  where  it  was  accepted,  captive 
Indians  would  be  received  and  sold.  He  said  that  it  would  be 
sent  back  to  Towattowan,  which  was  a  great  way  to  the  south, 
and  was  inhabited  by  a  large  tribe  of  Indians.  The  assembly 
resolved  that  the  Indians  should  be  directed  to  send  it  back 
whence  it  came,  and  should  be  charged  not  to  receive  such 
presents  in  future  without  giving  notice  to  the  magistrates. "- 
Deforest*  s  Hist,  of  Indians  of  Conn.,  p.  349. 


27 

contract  sealed  with  the  smoking  of  the  calumet 
and  the  burial  of  the  hatchet  in  the  midst.  Among 
the  Six  Nations,  whenever  the  council  failed  to 
adjust  the  difficulty  or  when  for  any  other  reason 
peace  was  to  be  interrupted,  war  was  proclaimed 
by  striking  a  tomahawk  painted  red  and  orna 
mented  with  black  wampum,  into  the  war  post 
in  each  village  of  the  league.1 

To  illustrate  what  we  have  said,  we  subjoin 
the  following  account  of  an  interview  between 
Sir  William  Johnson,  the  noted  Indian  agent  and 
the  Six  Nations,  among  whom  this  ceremony 
survived  even  after  their  decline.  "  At  a  meeting 
of  the  Six  Nations  and  their  allies  at  Fort  John 
son,  Feb.  1 8,  1756,  Sir  William  Johnson  said  : 
Brethren  of  the  Six  Nations, 

I    have  heard   with  great   concern  that   a  war 
party  of  the   Senecas,  the  most  remote  nation  of 

1  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  339. 


28 

the  confederacy,  have  had  a  considerable  mis 
understanding  with  their  brethren  the  English  to 
the  southward,  which  has  been  fatal  to  some  of 
that  nation.  I  am  extremely  unable  to  express 
my  sorrow  for  that  unhappy  affair,  and  as  the 
hatchet  remains  fixed  in  your  heads,  I  do  with 
the  greatest  tenderness  and  affection  remove  it 
thence.  A  belt. 

Brethren, 

With  this  belt  I  cleanse  and  purify  the  beds  of 
those  who  fell  in  that  unfortunate  affair  from  the 
defilement  they  have  contracted.  A  belt. 

J 

Brethren, 

I  am  informed  that  on  that  occasion  you  lost 
three  of  your  powerful  warriors.  I  do  with  this 
belt  cover  their  dead  bodies  that  they  may  not 
offend  our  sight  any  more  and  bury  the  whole 
affair  in  oblivion.  A  belt. 


29 

ANSWER  OF  THE  Six  NATIONS  AND  THIER  ALLIES. 

Brother  Warraghiaygey, 

We  the  sachems  and  warriors  of  the  Seneca 
nation  return  to  you  our  sincere  thanks  for  your 
great  affection  in  drying  our  tears  and  driving 
sorrow  from  our  hearts,  and  we  in  return  perform 
the  same  ceremony  to  you  with  the  like  hearty 
affection.  A  string  of  wampum. 

Brother  Warraghiyagey, 

We  are  sensible  of  your  goodness  expressed  to 
us  in  removing  the  cause  of  our  grief  and  ten 
derly  taking  the  axe  out  of  our  heads.  A  belt. 

After  several  more  speeches  and  presentations 
by  the  Senecas,  the  other  nations  in  turn  presented 
belts.  In  1748,  the  general  had  given  them  a 
large  belt  upon  which  was  an  emblem  of  the  Six 
Nations  joined  hand  in  hand  with  the  English. 
This  the  speaker  then  took  and  said : 


3° 

Brother  Warraghiyagey, 

Look  with  all  attention  on  this  belt  and  re 
member  the  solemn  and  mutual  engagements 
we  entered  into  when  you  first  took  upon  you 
the  management  of  our  affairs.  Be  assured  we 
look  upon  them  as  sound  and  shall  on  our  part 
punctually  perform  them  as  long  as  we  remain  a 
people.  A  prodigious  large  belt. 

Taking  up  another  large  belt  formerly  given 
them  by  the  governor  of  New  York,  he  said  : 

Brother  Warraghiyagey, 

We  hope  our  brethren,  the  English,  will 
seriously  remember  the  promises  made  us  by  this 
belt  and  exactly  perform  them,  and  we  promise 
to  do  the  same  though  we  have  no  record  but 
our  memories.  A  very  large  belt."  l 

1  Documents   relating  to  the   Colonial  History  of  New  York, 
vol.  vn,  p.  44. 


The  belts  received  at  treaties,  councils  and  other 
assemblies  were  entrusted  for  presentation  to  the 
care  of  one  individual,  usually  the  sachem,  who 
was  expected  to  keep  in  mind  the  occasion  and 
purport  of  each,  which  he  could  readily  do  by 
the  aid  of  the  devices  emblematic  of  the  event  it 
signalized  that  were  traced  upon  each.1  Thus  a 
belt  presented  to  Sir  Wm.  Johnson  by  the  Six 
Nations,  had  wrought  upon  it  the  sun,  the  emblem 
of  light,  and  symbols  of  the  Six  Nations.  It 
signified  that  their  minds  were  now  illumined  by 
the  clear  bright  light  of  truth  and  their  intention 
to  abide  in  the  light.1  In  a  belt  presented  at 
Easton,  His  Majesty  King  George  was  figured 
taking  hold  of  the  king  of  the  Six  Nations  with 
one  hand,  and  the  king  of  the  Delawares  with 
the  other.  A  belt  presented  by  the  Indians  of 
Eastern  Maine  as  a  pledge  of  their  friendship  and 

1  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  I2O. 


32 

fidelity  to  the  United  States  and  the  king  of 
France  was  explained  as  follows  :  The  belt  was 
thirteen  rows  wide  to  represent  the  United  States, 
and  had  upon  it  a  cross  indicating  France,  and 
several  white  figures  denoting  the  different  Indian 
villages.1  The  Indian  like  other  young  languages 
drew  closer  to  nature  than  the  dusty  abstractions 
of  civilization.  It  was  highly  figurative  and  the 
majority  of  its  words  referred  directly  to  familiar 
external  sights.  The  tribes  of  each  nation  of  the 
Iroquois  were  known  respectively  as  the  Wolf, 
Bear,  Beaver,  Turtle,  Deer,  Snipe,  Heron  and 
Hawk.  The  significant  names  of  chiefs  are 
known  to  all,  and  whoever  is  familiar  with  Indian 
oratory  will  readily  recollect  its  garb  of  bold  and 
striking  metaphors.  These  features,  while  im 
parting  energy  to  the  language,  at  the  same  time 

1  Eastern    Maine   and  Nova  Scotia  in  the  Revolution,  Kidder, 
p.  286. 


33 

made  it  easy  to  convey  its  meaning  by  picture 
writing  or  symbolism,  the  only  mode  of  writing 
which  the  aborigine  possessed.1  Thus,  too,  it 
was  easy  to  put  upon  a  belt  a  few  significant 
characters  which  by  the  principle  of  mental  asso 
ciation  should  clearly  depict  the  salient  features 
of  an  event  or  of  a  series  of  events.  Such  belts 
carefully  preserved  served  as  the  annals  of  a  nation. 
They  were  the  only  authentic  history  of  the  past, 
recalling  the  treaties,  councils,  triumphs  and 
domestic  celebrations  of  former  generations.  At 
stated  times  their  custodian,  the  sachem,  was 
accustomed  to  gather  the  younger  warriors  about 
him,  and  unfolding  to  them  the  secrets  locked  up 

JIt  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  notice  the  manner  in 
which  the  chiefs  affixed  their  names  to  early  deeds.  In  the 
deed  of  New  Haven  given  by  the  Quinnipiacs  [see  Appendix 
iv,  DeForest's  Indians  of  Conn.],  may  be  seen  as  autographs, 
an  arrow,  a  bow,  a  drawn  bow,  a  war  club,  a  tobacco  pipe,  a 

snake,  a  wolf  (apparently),  a  wild  fowl,  etc.,  etc. 

5 


34- 

in  these  mysterious  records,  instruct  them  in  the 
history  and  engagements  of  their  tribe.  The  old 
soldier's  breast  glowed  with  honest  pride,  as  he 
recounted  to  his  young  braves  the  exploits  of  their 
sires,  or  exhibited  the  proud  tokens  of  submission 
forced  from  some  ancient  enemy,  and  most  of  all 
when  he  came  to  dwell  upon  scenes  conspicuous 
for  his  own  valor  and  reddened  by  his  blood. 
And  as  the  impetuous  youths  drank  in  the  glorious 
story  of  their  father's  might  and  valor  on  the  war 
path,  there  sprang  up  within  them  a  patriotism 
"  that  grew  by  what  it  fed  on."  In  the  extensive 
confederation  of  the  Iroquois,  Hono  Wenato,  an 
Onondaga  sachem,  was  the  hereditary  keeper  of 
the  wampum.  Whenever  the  grand  council  met 
to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  sachemship  of  a  tribe  of 
any  nation,  it  was  his  duty  publicly  to  repeat  to 
the  new  sachem  their  ancient  laws  and  usages,  and 
to  unfold  to  him  the  structure  and  principles  of 


35 

the  league,    as   recorded  in   the  belts   commuted 
to  his  charge.1 

Wampum  played  an  important  part  in  religious 
as  well  as  civil  ceremonies.  On  occasions  of 
great  public  calamities,  it  formed  the  most  accept 
able  sacrifice  that  could  be  offered  to  the  terrible 
Hobbamocko,  the  author  of  evil,  and  it  entered 
largely  into  the  mystic  rites  of  all  those  weird 
assemblies  that  gathered  under  the  shades  of  the 
forest.  When  evil  threatened  or  its  farther  pro 
gress  was  to  be  stayed,  as  also  after  great  triumphs 
and  abundant  harvests,  the  Indians  gathered 
from  far  and  near  to  celebrate  their  mysteries. 
They  danced  for  days,  painted  and  clad  in  hideous 
guise,  about  a  great  fire,  the  throne  of  the  divinity, 
and  with  wild  and  frantic  yells  cast  from  time  to 
time  into  the  flames  furs  and  weapons,  and  that 
choicest  of  their  treasures  the  costly  wampum. 

1  League  of  the  Iroquois,  p.  119. 


36 

Nay  it  was  even  whispered  in  the  early  time,  that 
little  children  gaily  adorned  with  wampurn  were 
led  into  the  midst  and  thrust  into  the  fiery 
embrace  of  the  hissing  god.1  The  practice  of  the 
Iroquois  was  less  fearful,  among  whom  a  string 
of  white  wampum  was  hung  around  the  neck  of 
a  white  dog  suspended  to  a  pole  and  offered  as  a 
sacrifice  to  the  mighty  Haweuneyn.  The  wampum 
was  a  pledge  of  their  sincerity,  and  white  an 
emblem  of  purity  and  of  faith.  In  the  same 
nation,  previous  to  "  giving  thanks  to  the  Maple,'1 
and  their  other  stated  festivals,  the  people  assem 
bled  for  the  mutual  confession  of  their  sins.  "  The 
meeting  was  opened  by  one  of  the  '  keepers  of  the 
faith,'  with  an  address  upon  the  propriety  and 
importance  of  acknowledging  their  evil  deeds  to 
strengthen  their  minds  against  future  temptations. 
He  then  took  a  string  of  white  wampum  in  his 

1  President  Stiles's///»*rtfry,  unpublished. 


37 

hand,  and  set  the  example  by  a  confession  of  his 
own  faults,  after  which  he  handed  the  string  to 
the  one  nearest  to  him,  who  received  it,  made  his 
confession  in  like  manner,  and  passed  it  to  another. 
In  this  way  the  wampum  went  around  from  hand 
to  hand,  and  those  who  had  confessions  to  make, 
stated  wherein  they  had  done  wrong,  and  pro 
mised  to  do  better  in  the  future.  Old  and  young, 
men,  women  and  even  children,  all  united  in  this 
public  acknowledgment  of  their  faults,  and  joined 
in  the  common  resolution  of  amendment.  On 
some  occasions  the  string  of  wampum  was  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  room,  and  each  one  advanced 
in  turn  to  perform  the  duty  as  the  inclination 
seized  him.  A  confession  and  promise  without 
holding  the  wampum  would  be  of  no  avail.  It 
was  the  wampum  which  recorded  their  words  and 
gave  their  pledge  of  sincerity.  The  object  of 
the  confession  was  future  amendment." 
1  League  of  the  Iroquois^  page  188. 


Wampum  was  the  tribute  paid  by  the  van 
quished  in  war,  as  also  the  means  by  which 
threatened  wars  were  often  averted.  The  Long 
Island  Indians  for  many  years  paid  an  annual  tri 
bute  to  the  Pequots,  a  powerful  tribe  dwelling  in 
Eastern  Connecticut.1  It  is  commonly  supposed 
that  these  tribes  were  also  tributary  to  the  Six 
Nations.  To  the  same  great  power  were  subject 
the  clans  between  the  Hudson  and  the  Connecticut, 
and  every  year  two  aged  but  haughty  Mohawks 
might  be  seen  going  from  village  to  village  to 
collect  the  tribute  that  was  their  due.  It  is  asserted 
that  as  late  as  1756,  a  small  tribe  near  Sugar  Loaf 
mountain  made  an  annual  payment  to  this  nation 
of  £20  in  wampum.  Individual  as  well  as  national 
obligations  were  similarly  satisfied.  Like  the 
early  German,  the  Indian  set  a  marketable  value 
on  human  life,  and  a  suitable  present  of  wampum 

1  Thomson's  Long  Island,  p.  62. 


39 

on  the  part  of  the  murderer,  if  accepted,  freed 
him  from  the  vengeance  of  the  dead  man's  friends, 
for  the  wampum  belt  washed  away  all  traces  of 
the  bloody  stain.1  Perhaps  desire  for  another's 
wampum  sometimes  prompted  him  to  such  foul 
deeds,  as  it  did  the  white  man,2  though  happily 
the  Indian  seldom  stooped  to  theft. 

Thus  in  the  rude  civilization  of  the  aborigine 
wampum  filled  a  space  accorded  to  no  one  article 
in  our  own.  Through  life  it  faithfully  met  all 
his  varied  wants,  and  when  he  came  to  die,  his 
friends  placed  it  about  his  dead  body,3  that  it 

1  League  of  the  Iroquots,  p.  331. 

2  It  is  stated  in   Winthrop's  Journal  [p.  147  and  after],  that 
four  servants  of  Plymouth  were  condemned  and  hung  upon  their 
own   confession   of  having   murdered   an   Indian  to   obtain  his 
wampum. 

3  In  the    tomb,   apparently  of  a   chief,  in   the   Grove   creek 
mound,  1700  beads  were  found  around  the  remains  of  a  skeleton, 
and  such  deposits  are  frequently  found  in  opening  old  graves. 


40 

might  befriend  him  on  his  journey  to  the  spirit 
land,  and  on  his  arrival  there  gain  for  him  ad 
mission  to  the  realms  of  the  god  Kiehtan,  the 
abode  of  the  blessed. 

The  shrewd  commercial  instinct  of  the  Dutch 
colonists  was  quick  to  profit  by  wampum  in  their 
dealings  with  the  aborigines.  Happily  its  most 
extensive  producers  dwelt  at  their  very  doors. 
They  obtained  from  the  Long  Island  tribes  in 
return  for  knives,  scissors,  hatchets  and  the  like, 
great  quantities  of  this  novel  coinage,  and  then 
exchanged  it  with  the  Indians  of  the  mainland 
for  hides  and  furs,  often  plunging  far  into  the 
interior  and  drawing  thence  products  which  gold 
could  never  have  won  from  their  possessors.  Did 
common  trifles  fail,  wampum  was  the  unfailing 
reserve  whose  charms  the  savage  was  powerless  to 
resist.  With  such  an  adjutant  trade  became 
doubly  flourishing  and  lucrative.  Posts  sprang  up 


along  the  Hudson,  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
and  as  far  south  as  the  Schuylkill,  through  all  of 
which  ceaseless  revenues  poured  into  the  coffers 
of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  Connecticut, 
alone,  annually  furnished  to  her  traders  ten  thou 
sand  beaver  skins.1  In  all  this  traffic  wampum 
played  a  leading  part,  so  much  so  in  fact  that  fur 
trade  and  wampum  trade  became  synonymous 
terms. 

Toward  the  close  of  September,  1627,  Isaac 
de  Rasieres  was  dispatched  from  New  Amsterdam 
on  an  embassy  to  the  English  colony  at  New 
Plymouth.  Being  of  a  trading  turn,  he  carried 
with  him  in  his  vessel  among  other  merchandise 
about  £50  in  wampum  which  he  managed  to 
dispose  of  there.2  Wampum  was  as  yet  com 
paratively  unknown  in  Massachusetts  bay,  and 

1  JVintbrop,  i,  113. 

2  Bradford's  Letters,  Mass.  Hist.  Collections,  in,  54. 


4-2 

the  colonists  were  ignorant  of  its  uses.  This  pur 
chase  made  with  great  reluctance,  they  sent  to 
their  trading  house  at  Kennebeck,  where  "  when 
the  inland  Indians  came  to  know  it,  they  could 
scarce  procure  enough  for  many  years  together." 
Everywhere  in  New  England,  as  in  the  Dutch 
provinces,  wampum  soon  became  a  leading  article 
in  the  Indian  trade,  and  added  greatly  to  its  profits. 
Seven  years  after  its  introduction  to  Kennebeck, 
Mr.  Winslow  carried  thence  into  England  about 
twenty  hogsheads  of  beaver,  "  the  greater  part 
whereof  was  traded  for  wampampeage  "  during 
the  year.  By  1636  this  trade  had  grown  to  such 
proportions  in  Massachusetts  colony  that  the 
standing  colony  were  authorized  to  farm  it  out 
for  the  increase  of  the  public  revenues,  and  to 
establish  the  severest  penalties  for  any  infringe 
ment  of  the  privileges  thus  granted.  The  traders 
of  New  England  were  now  ranging  the  forests  in 


43 

all    directions   and  often   plunged    into  them   for 
hundreds  of  miles  to  the  great  alarm  of  the  Dutch 
who  feared  that    the  English  would    monopolize 
all  the  profits  of  the  trade,  and  that  "  they  should 
be  obliged   to    eat  oats  out  of  English    hands." 
From  the  north   the  French  descended  in   great 
numbers,  eager  to  share  in  the  gains  of  this  traffic, 
and  often  encroached  upon  the  domains  of  other 
nations.     The  solitudes  of  the  wilderness  thus  re 
sounded   every  where  to   the  tread  of  the  adven 
turous  white  man,  who,  lured  on  by  the  hope  of 
gain,  thought   not   of  the  dangers  that  beset   his 
path.      It  doubtless  afforded  the  Indian  no    little 
satisfaction  to  welcome  the  haughty  foreigner  to 
his  wigwam,  and  while  dictating  his  own  terms,  to 
receive  in  payment  the    honored  currency  of  his 
fathers.     When  he  took  his  pay,  he  measured  it 
off  after  his  own  fashion,  the  unit   being  the  dis- 

1  Doc.  Rel.  to  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  i,  459. 


44 

tance  from  the  elbow  to  the  end  of  the  little 
finger.  According  to  one  authority  it  made  no 
difference  whether  a  short  or  tall  man  measured 
it.1  Adrian  Van  Tiedhoven,  clerk  of  the  court 
at  the  South  river,  however  tells  a  different  story, 
complaining  bitterly  "  because  the  Indians  always 
take  the  largest  and  tallest  among  them  to  trade 
with  us." 

But  hides  and  furs  were  not  the  only  articles 
which  wampum  purchased  from  the  natives.  It 
was  a  frequent  consideration  in  early  Indian  deeds. 
In  the  records  of  Windsor,  Conn.,  is  preserved  a 
deed,  which  conveys  territory  lying  between  the 
Podunk  and  Scantic  rivers,  and  extending  a  day's 
march  into  the  country,  the  price  paid  for  which 
was  fifteen  fathoms  of  wampum  and  twenty  cloth 
coats.  Most  of  the  present  towns  of  Warwick 
and  Coventry  in  Rhode  Island,  were  purchased  of 

1  Lawson's  History  of  North  Carolina^  ed.  of  1714,  page  315. 


45 

Miantinomi,  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  for 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  fathoms  of  wampum/ 
In  New  England  the  limits  of  the  trade  were 
considerably  extended  by  the  quantities  of  wampum 
tribute  which  poured  into  the  hands  of  the  colo 
nial  authorities.  Wampum  was  the  commodity 
in  which  tribute  was  universally  paid,  and  the 
stern  justice  of  our  fathers  imposed  this  with  no 
sparing  hand  upon  their  weak  and  erring  neigh 
bors.  In  1634,  the  Pequots  were  fined  400 
fathoms  of  wampum,  and  two  years  afterwards 
600  fathoms  more.2  After  1637,  the  Long  Island 
Indians  paid  a  large  yearly  tribute  to  the  united 
commissioners,3  as  did  also  the  Block  Islanders. 
It  is  often  difficult,  as  in  the  present  case,  to  see 
the  justice  of  such  exactions.  These  Indians  had 

1  Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records,  I,  130. 

2  Winthrop,  pages  147,  149  and  192. 

3  Thompson's  Long  Island,  page  62. 


46 

been  guilty  of  no  unfriendly  act,  and  the  utmost 
urged  in  extenuation  of  the  imposition  was  the 
flimsy  pretence  that  but  for  an  alleged  protection 
the  same  sums  would  have  gone  in  fealty  to  their 
red  brethren.  In  1644,  the  Narragansetts  were 
fined  2000  fathoms,  and  doomed  to  pay  yearly 
thereafter  a  fathom  for  every  Pequot  man,  half 
a  fathom  for  every  youth  and  a  hand  breadth  for 
every  child  in  the  tribe.  As  late  as  1658,*  the 
Pequots  were  fined  ten  fathoms  a  man,  and  one 
of  their  number  imprisoned  for  offering  refuse 
wampum  in  part  payment.2  This  tribe  had 
suffered  so  many  and  severe  exactions  that  they 
were  obliged  to  search  in  all  directions  for  the 
material  out  of  which  to  manufacture  their 
wampum,  and  occasionally  crossed  over  to  Long 
Island  for  this  purpose.  The  Montauk  sachem 

1  Hazard,  n,  page  413. 

2  Hazard,  in,  page  44. 


4-7 

fearing  that  his  shores  would  be  exhausted  of  their 
shelly  wealth,  opposed  these  visits,  until  the 
Pequots  succeeded  in  securing  the  interposition 
of  the  united  commissioners  in  their  behalf.1 
In  1663,  the  assessment  upon  this  tribe  was  fixed 
at  80  fathoms.  Such  are  a  few  of  the  many  in 
stances  to  be  found  in  the  records,  showing  the 
enormous  amount  of  wampum  paid  as  tribute  by 

the  natives  to  the  early  authorities  of  New  Eng 
land. 

The  Dutch  supply  was  augmented  in  a  different 
manner.  They  soon  found  the  native  manufac 
tories  inadequate  to  the  demand  and  erected  mints 
of  their  own,  and  by  introducing  steel  drills  and 
polishing  lathes  won  a  great  advantage  over  the 
original  wearisome  hand  processes.  The  French 
sought  a  still  greater  advantage  by  substituting 
porcelain  for  shells,  but  the  Indians  were  not  to 

1  Hazard,  11,  pages  387  and  388. 


48 

be  thus  easily  imposed  upon,  and  the  manufacture 
of  earthen  money  was  soon  given  up.1  It  is 
sometimes  asserted  that  the  English  engaged  in 
making  wampum,  though  the  statement  appeared 
to  be  without  foundation.  The  Dutch,  however, 
produced  it  in  large  quantities,  and  were  thereby 
enabled  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  their  own  posts  ; 
and  also  to  furnish  liberal  supplies  to  the  traders, 
north  and  south,  who  ranged  over  the  entire 
Atlantic  coast  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  gulf. 
In  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  later  in  Georgia, 
wampum  was  the  chief  medium  employed  in  the 
fur  trade. 

The  poverty  of  the  early  settlers,  added  to  that 
short  sighted  and  now  obsolete  policy  of  Europe 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  which  jealously 
sought  to  keep  all  specie  within  her  borders,  pro 
duced  a  general  dearth  of  the  precious  metals  in 

1  Thompson's  Long  Island,  page  60. 


49 

the  currency  of  the  New  World,  and  all  kinds 
of  shifts  were  made  to  eke  out  the  scanty  supply. 
Corn,  wheat,  oats,  peas,  poultry  and  the  like 
sufficed  to  satisfy  any  obligation.  But  then,  though 
answering  well  in  cases  of  barter,  where  two 
mutual  desires  met,  were  far  too  bulky  and  un 
wieldy  for  general  use.  Naturally  then  recourse 
was  had  to  an  article  in  extensive  use  among  the 
traders,  and  possessing  in  a  measure  the  porta 
bility  of  gold  and  silver,  and  wampum  became  a 
constituent  part  of  the  currency.  In  one  feature 
at  least,  the  old  civilization  held  its  own  beside 
the  new.  As  early  as  1637,  wampum  was  made 
a  legal  tender  in  Massachusetts  for  any  sum  under 
I2d,  at  the  rate  of  six  beads  for  a  penny.1  The 
same  year  it  became  a  legal  tender  in  Connecticut 

1  Records  of  Mass.,  I,  238.  Where  only  one  rate  is  mentioned, 
as  here,  we  are  probably  to  understand  the  white,  and  deduct 
one-half  for  the  black  or  blue. 

7 


50 

for  any  amount.      The   general    court   declaring 
it  receivable  for  taxes  "at  fousen  (4)  a  penny."  l 

But  coin  grew  scarcer  in  Massachusetts  and 
shell  money  increased  in  value,  till  in  1640,  the 
authorities  were  compelled  to  adopt  the  valuation 
of  Connecticut,  ordering  that  the  white  pass  at 
four  and  the  "  bleuse  "  at  two  a  penny,  "  and  not 
above  1 2d  at  a  time  except  the  receiver  desire 
more."  The  public  needs  soon  required  another 
change,  and  the  legality  of  shell  currency  rose  to 
£io.3  This  novel  coinage,  thus  regulated  from 
time  to  time,  answered  well  for  money  through 
out  the  colonies,  till  after  a  while  trouble  arose 
from  an  unexpected  source.  The  enormous  de 
mand  at  length  brought  upon  the  market  beads 
of  stone  or  unallowed  shells,  as  also  many  rough, 

1  Colonial  Records  of  Conn.,  I,  I  2. 

2  Records  of  Mass.,  i,  p.  302. 
s  Ibid,  p.  329. 


51 

ill-strung  specimens  of  the  genuine  article.  The 
disorder  was  aggravated,  because  the  Indians,  who 
best  understood  the  qualities  of  their  wampum, 
would  take  only  the  genuine  from  the  traders, 
while  the  refuse  was  thrown  back  into  the  circu 
lation  of  the  colonies.  The  commissioners  ol  the 
United  Colonies  being  appealed  to  for  a  remedy 
recommended  to  the  separate  governments  to 
suppress  this  poor  "  peage  "  by  law.  Accordingly 
in  1648,  the  general  courte  of  Connecticut 
ordered  "  that  no  peage,  white  or  black,  be  paid  or 
received,  but  what  is  strung  and  in  some  measure 
strung  suitably,  and  not  small  and  great,  uncomely 
and  disorderly  mixt,  as  formerly  it  hath  beene." 
A  similar  order  was  passed  in  Massachusetts, 
where  it  was  further  enacted  to  prepare  this 
Indian  money  for  ready  use,  that  it  be  "  suitably 
strung  in  eight  known  parcells,  id.  ^s.  \id.  $s. 

1  Col.  Records  of  Conn.,  I,   I  79. 


52 

in  white;  id.  6s.  6d.  and  IQJ-.  in  blacke."  l  Ano 
ther  favorite  length  was  the  fathom,  containing 
360  beads  and  current  at  about  IQJ-.  Thus  during 
these  years  shell  money  was  current  throughout 
New-England,  and  constituted,  doubtless,  the 
best  and  most  convenient  portion  of  the  currency. 
The  government  received  it  for  taxes,  the  farmer 
for  his  produce,  the  merchant  for  his  wares,  and 
the  laborer  for  his  hire.  It  formed  a  frequent 
item  in  the  inventories  of  deceased  colonists,  being 
often  the  only  cash  mentioned.  It  even  found 
its  way  into  the  coffers  of  Harvard  college,  for 
we  read  that  the  lease  of  the  wampum  trade  in 
Massachusetts  was  attended  with  the  obligation 
to  take  from  the  college  the  wampum  which  it 
might  have  on  hand  from  time  to  time.2  In  the 
forest,  likewise,  it  now  circulated  as  money,  for 

1  Records  of  Mass.,  n,  261. 

2  Records  of  Mass.,  I,  323. 


53 

the  Indian   was    quick  to   copy  the   white   man's 
use  of  his  beads. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  century  wampum 
reached  its  highest  value  in  New-England.  There 
after  the  increasing  prosperity  of  the  colonies, 
the  domestic  coinage  of  silver,  and  perhaps  the 
too  extensive  manufacture  of  the  shell  money, 
gradually  diminishing  its  value,  drove  it  from  cir 
culation.  In  1650,  it  was  refused  in  payment  of 
country  rates  in  Massachusetts.1  This  action  of 
the  government  naturally  created  distrust  among 
the  people,  to  counteract  which  it  was  ordered 
that "  peage  "  should  still  "  remagne  pawable  from 
man  to  man,  according  to  the  law  in  force." 
Close  upon  this  followed  another  decree,  limiting 
it  as  a  legal  tender  to  40  shillings.2  These  laws 
continued  in  force  till  1661,  when  wampum  was 

1  Records  of  Mass.,  n,  279. 

2  Ibid,  IV,  p.  36. 


54 

declared  to  be  no  longer  a  legal  tender  in  Massa 
chusetts.1  Rhode  Island  passed  a  similar  decree 
the  next  year  2  and  Connecticut,  probably,  soon 
afterwards.  But  though  wampum  now  ceased  to 
be  legally  current,  it  lingered  among  the  people 
for  years  and  constituted  in  great  part  the  small 
change  of  the  community.  As  late  as  1704,  it 
was  a  common  mode  of  payment  in  country  places.3 
Shell  money  was  used  extensively  and  for  a  long 
time  in  the  Dutch  colonies.  Here  for  a  while 
absolutely  no  coin  was  in  circulation,  and  wampum 
being  the  feasiblesubstitute  was  universallyadopted. 
So  great  was  the  popular  demand,  that  even  the 
unstrung  wampum,  prohibited  in  the  eastern 
colonies,  passed  at  but  a  trifling  discount.4  For 

1  Records  of  Mass.,  iv,  part  2,  pages  4,  5. 

2  R.  Island  Colonial  Records,  I,  page  474. 

3  Madam  Knight's  Journal,  written  in  1704,  page  43. 

4  Doc.  relating  to  the  Colonial  Hist  of  New  York,  I,  474. 


55 

many  years  the  easy-going  government  at  New 
Amsterdam  does  not  seem  to  have  regulated  the 
currency  by  law,  as  did  its  more  thorough  neigh 
bors,  and  the  amount  of  wampum  requisite  to 
make  a  stiver,  was  left  to  be  determined  by  the 
parties  concerned.  Such  a  course  was  fraught 
with  inconvenience  to  the  public,  and  frequent 
petitions  were  made  for  the  establishment  of  some 
uniform  rate.1 

The  rate,  however,  which  obtained  by  common 
consent,  was  four  of  the  strung  and  six  of  the 
loose  beads  for  a  stiver.2  But  in  1641,  there 
came  from  foreign  parts  an  inundation  of  "  nasty, 
rough  "  sewan,  which  drove  the  better  sort  out 
of  circulation,  "  nay,"  so  runs  the  record,  "  threat 
ened  the  ruin  of  the  country,"  and  legislation  was 
imperatively  demanded.  This  inferior  article  was 

-Ibid,  P.  336. 
2  Ibid,  p.  425. 


56 

therefore  condemned  to  pass  five  for  a  stiver  during 
the  following  month,  and  afterwards  six,  at 
which  rate  the  loose,  unstringed  wampum,  which 
served  the  community  as  change,  subsequently 
circulated.1  The  importance  of  wampum  during 
these  years  is  well  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the 
opulent  West  India  Company  in  1664,  sought 
to  negotiate  a  loan  of  five  or  six  thousand  guilders 
in  it,  wherewith  to  pay  the  laboring  people,  the 
obligation  to  be  satisfied  with  goodnegroes  or  other 
goods.2  The  Dutch  succumbed  to  superior  force, 
but  wampum  still  held  its  own.  It  continued  to 
be  the  chief  currency  not  only  in  New  York,  but 
in  the  many  settlements  to  the  west  and  south, 
which  were  then  under  the  control  of  the  author 
ities  at  New  York.  In  1672,  the  inhabitants  of 
Hoanskill  and  New  Castle  on  the  Delaware, 

1  O'Callaghan's  New  Netherland,  I,   230. 
"Doc.  Col.  Hist  of  New  Tork,  II,  p.  371. 


57 

having  been  plundered  by  Dutch  privateers  were 
permitted  by  the  government  at  New  York  to 
lay  an  impost  of  four  guilders,  in  wampum,  upon 
each  anker  of  strong  rum  imported  or  sold  there.1 
A  guilder,  which  was  about  six  pence  currency 
or  four  pence  sterling,  consisted  of  twenty  stivers, 
and  eight  beads  were  reckoned  equal  to  one  stiver. 
As  heretofore  there  was  little  or  no  certain  coin 
in  circulation  and  wampum  passed  for  current 
payment  in  all  cases.  Indeed  the  country  was  so 
drained  of  even  this  currency  by  the  Indian  trade, 
that  there  was  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  sufficiency. 
To  remedy  this  state  of  affairs,  the  governor  and 
council  of  New  York  were  in  1673  constrained 
to  issue  their  proclamation  which  was  published 
at  Albany,  Esopus,  Delaware,  Long  Island  and  the 
adjacent  parts,  commanding  that  "  instead  of 
eight  white  and  four  black  (beads),  six  white  and 

1  Proud's  Hist,  of  Pennsylvania^  I,  page  133. 
8 


three  black   should  pass  for  a   stiver ;  and  three 
times  so  much  the  value  of  silver/'1 

The  contributions  in  the  churches  were  for 
many  years  made  in  wampum,  and  the  first  church 
on  the  Jersey  shore  was  built  with  funds  contri 
buted  in  this  way  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath.  As 
late  as  1683,  "  the  schoolmaster  in  Flatbush  was 
paid  his  salary  in  wheat,  wampum  value :  He 
was  bound  to  provide  a  basin  of  water  for  the 
purpose  of  baptism,  for  which  he  received  from 
the  parents  or  sponsors  twelve  stivers  in  wam 
pum."  Nor  ten  years  later  had  the  money  of 
the  aborigines  become  wholly  supplanted  by  gold 
and  silver,  for  we  learn  that  "  in  1693,  ^e  ferriage 
of  each  single  person  from  New  York  to 
Brooklyn  was  eight  stivers  in  wampum,  or  a 

1  Hazzard's  Annals  of  Pennsylvania. 

2  O'Callaghan's  New  Netherlands  I,  61. 


59 

silver  two-pence/' l  Further  than  this  we  are 
unable  to  trace,  though  we  have  good  reason  to 
believe  that  it  circulated,  to  a  limited  extent,  for 
some  time  thereafter. 

Thus  while  the  Indian  declined  in  power  his 
simple  coinage  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  among 
his  conquerors,  in  the  haunts  where  unnumbered 
generations  of  his  ancestors  had  trafficked  it  in 
rude  barter,  or  offered  it  with  solemn  ceremonial, 
their  costliest  offering,  to  their  country's  gods. 
It  was  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  a  legal 
tender  in  New  England,  while  among  the  Dutch 
it  was  during  half  a  century  often  the  only  circu 
lating  medium,  and  among  both  Dutch  and 
English  it  rilled  a  more  or  less  important  part 
in  the  currency  for  nearly  an  entire  century. 

When  at  length  the  increasing  wealth  of  the 
people  drove  wampum  out  of  common  use,  it  still 

1  O'Callaghan's  New  Nether/and,  I,  ibid. 


6o 

remained  an  important  article  in  commerce.  It 
was  manufactured  at  New  York  until  the  com 
mencement  of  the  present  century  to  be  used  in 
traffic  with  the  Indians,  for  whom  it  had  lost 
none  of  its  charms,  and  to  be  carried  by  our 
whalers  into  the  northern  seas. 

Treaties  and  compacts  between  the  different 
tribes  and  the  states,  and  later  the  general  govern 
ment,  continued  to  be  ratified  by  the  interchange 
of  wampum  belts.  The  records  of  the  eighteenth 
century  abound  with  instances  of  this  character. 
The  last  occasion  of  the  kind  is  believed  to  have 
been  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1825.  L 

Among  the  Indians  of  the  present  day  wampum 
is  unknown.  The  name  still  remains,  but  the 
trifles  to  which  it  is  applied  bear  no  resemblance 
to  the  ancient  article.  The  glass  beads  now 

1  Schoolcraft's  Notes  on  the  Iroquois. 


6i 

current  as  wampum  and  the  original  wampum 
are  not  less  unlike,  than  the  squalid  Blackfoot  of 
our  western  plains,  and  the  proud  and  imperious 
Mohawk,  beside  his  native  stream. 


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